Cat and Mau5

When the cacophonous clacking sounds of acrylic glass had abated, Gerard gingerly unfolded himself from his position in the chair, brushing shards from his clothes as quickly but carefully as he could manage without cutting himself further. He could feel some smaller pieces against his back where they were caught in the fabric of his shirt and shrugged it off, freeing his t-shirt. He also removed his shades and tossed them on the seat, and suddenly everything got sharper, closer. He stung in a couple of places and knew that he was bleeding.

Casting a cursory glance at the audience Gerard noticed that while a significant portion of them had sprinted for the exits the majority of the crowd remained, shouting and screaming and documenting the aftermath with various blinking devices. He wasn’t looking forward to all the photographs of his undoubtedly dazed expression gracing the front page of all the newsblogs in the morning. If he’d thought the crowd had been noisy following the first bout, it was nothing compared to this. The arena was practically vibrating with noise and Gerard had never been as desperate to be alone in a quiet hotel room with white walls that had no personality.

The second Gerard stepped out of his chair he was bombarded by meditechs approaching him with concerned faces and rolls of gauze. He waved them away and was surprised when they actually backed off, choosing instead to focus on the well-being of the ring-girl, who was sat on the floor and had apparently bared the brunt of the injuries. With most of her skin left uncovered the poor girl was practically slashed to ribbons. Unfortunately Gerard didn’t have a lot of time to spare to mourn her modelling career just then.

Even as he reached for his controls he knew it was futile. But he picked them up anyway and tried to get El to stand up. His efforts were in vain, and Gerard guessed that her motor cortex had been one of the areas to suffer the most damage. Throwing it back down with a clunk, he took a few strides closer.

Somehow the metal structures that formed the basis of the pyramid were stronger than they looked, and were baring the deadweight of El’s body so she knelt towering over them. Every so often there’d be a fzzt sound and a few sparks would erupt from the hole in her head the pyramid point was conveniently plugging. He stood for a few seconds staring up at her, barely able to believe that the sight before him was real, and not in fact a scene from one of his rare stage fright nightmares.

Gerard was alone inside his head apart from the one whisper of “Shit…” that Mikey had emitted whilst he was still being pelted by perspex. He looked over to Frank almost as an afterthought and they locked eyes as a meditech was sponging blood from Frank’s head. He had a small cut beneath one eye that hadn’t been tended to yet, and had Gerard’s brain been functioning at full capacity he’d have processed that the man opposite him looked positively stricken. His eyes scrunched up slightly and Frank opened his mouth as if to say something, but whatever it was Gerard didn’t want to hear it, and turned away before he could lip-read some cursory apology that he couldn’t believe.

With no warning the announcer’s voice filtered over the speaker system, dulling the chattering of the audience as they all fell quiet to better hear it over the sound of each other.

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please?
We ask that you remain seated and as calm as possible while we make sure the arena is safe for exit following the accident. A cleaning squad is currently en route to safely dispose of the glass and we would like to apologise for the delay.
Thank you for your patience.

There was a pause as the serious portion of the message was over, and the announcer affected his louder showy voice to announce the winner of the match.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your winner, FR4NK13!

Even as Gerard cried “What?” he could hear Mikey exclaiming “That’s total bullshit!” in his ear.

Looking back to Frank once more, the meditech had seen his opportunity for five seconds of glory and had paused in his treatment to raise Frank’s hand in victory, to the rumbling reaction of the crowd.
To his credit, Frank looked just as shocked as Gerard felt.
“But no, I-“
“You fucking piece of shit.”

The words had exploded venomously out of Gerard’s mouth without his permission, and he had just enough time to witness Frank pushing the meditech away and scrabbling out of his chair as he turned on his heel and strode purposefully to contest this decision.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he cried as he approached the announcer, who was huddled with three other men Gerard assumed to be UFC officiaries. “She isn’t on the floor, this is an illegal ending.” He was too angry to censor his use of pronoun.
“I’m sorry, sir, but the decision has been made,” the announcer smiled amicably, as if this answer would placate Gerard’s anger.
“Well reverse it,” Gerard spat. “She’s not on the ground.”

The announcer’s face twisted into one of sympathy, and he was about to say something a little more encouraging when he was interrupted by one of the officiaries, who had no intention of sugar-coating his words.
“Oh, so I suppose you’ll be fit for a rematch in an hour then?”

Gerard blew out a harsh breath in reply. She was going to take at least a week to repair.
“Just as I thought,” the man smiled smugly, clasping his hands behind his back. “It is an unorthodox decision; I’ll concede to that. However, while your mau5 is admittedly not on the floor, neither can it get up.”

Gerard heard Frank jog up beside him.
“No, he’s right. Disqualify me if you have to, she’s not on the floor.”
Frank’s own use of the female pronoun had Gerard’s anger boiling over, and he turned to his lover from the previous night with a vicious snarl.
“I do not need your help. Back off.”
There was a pause. Frank’s voice was low but firm when he spoke again. “I did not mean for that to happen.”
“We do not care for your intentions, nor your point of view,” another man in a suit chimed in. “The decision has been made, and we will not be drafting two new competitors into the competition at this stage. Congratulations, Mr. Iero,” he said, whilst trapping Frank in a reluctant handshake.

The announcer skulked away with the suits and Frank was left staring at Gerard open-mouthed before he caught himself.
“I’ll withdraw,” he said, testing for Gerard’s reaction.
Gerard sighed, and harshly gripped the corners of his eyes, eyes screwed shut.
“Sure. And then you’ll have destroyed my pride and joy for absolutely no reason.” He dropped his hand. “I don’t give a fuck what you do. Just stay away from me.”

As he strode angrily away it occurred to Gerard that Mikey had been silent throughout that whole argument, which made sense when he noticed his sibling was now inside and walking towards him, accompanied by Perry. One look at his manager’s face told him that Mikey had elected to fill him in on the whole situation, reckless night of passion included. Shit.

That took the wind out of Gerard’s sails a little bit, and he slowed in his approach like the coward he was. When they were within speaking distance he opened his mouth even as he had no idea what to say. Perry only held a hand up and Gerard wisely smacked his lips back together.
“I’m going to speak to the officiaries. Be smart and keep your mouth shut.” He didn’t say it unkindly, but Gerard still winced. “Mikey, get the bot out of here. Call for a removal crew if necessary.”
“Perry, I-“
“We’ll deal with it later, Gerard,” his manger replied bluntly with narrowed eyes. “Be smart.”
Gerard paused for a second before nodding. “They’re not going to change their minds,” he added.
“We’ll see about that.”

Without another word Perry was stalking across the arena in search of the suits and Gerard turned to his brother with a weary sigh. Mikey pulled his mouth up at one side in sympathy and clapped him on the shoulder as they turned back towards the destroyed pyramid.
“I had to tell him.”
“I know,” Gerard nodded. “I’m actually sort of relieved I don’t have to do it myself. Just not looking forward to the lecture later.”

Mikey snorted but didn’t confirm nor deny Perry’s reaction, which didn’t do a lot for Gerard’s nerves. Instead he was reaching for the controller, leaving Gerard to stand by idly as Mikey tried every trick in the book to get his mau5 to stand on her own two feet again. Eying where the metal point protruded from the back of El’s head, he couldn’t help but feel guilty for allowing it to happen, even though he knew logically that she was just a metal structure filled with nothing but wire and dust. He sighed. That just wasn’t the point.

He had bent to retrieve his shirt and sunglasses from the chair when he heard the tell-tale metallic thudding sounds of mau5 footsteps, and his stomach lurched, hoping that her face wouldn’t look too mangled when he turned around.

It took him a second to realise that his robot hadn’t moved an inch. The giant blue structure was still half-collapsed in a heap and Mikey wasn’t even fiddling with the controls anymore. However, looking over at the other chair, Frank was, and he was manoeuvring his mau5 toward Gerard’s.

He saw red.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Gerard yelled, not daring to move an inch closer to where Frank stood, just in case he lost control of the fists that were balled at his sides.
Frank froze for a second like his mother had caught him doing something naughty, and then he recovered, almost physically shaking it off, before he was brave enough to close the gap and approach the two brothers at the other control panel.
“I’m going to pick her up,” he said slowly, lifting his controller into view so that they couldn’t possibly misunderstand that he was going to set the mau5bot down with his own bare hands. “It’ll be quicker.”
“No,” Gerard spat. “No, you can’t do that.”
“Oh come on,” Frank scoffed incredulously. “I just want to help.”
“Don’t you think you’ve done enough?”
“Gerard-“
“No!”

Gerard managed to sound both panicked and firm in one exclamation. He could feel his hands had balled into fists as his side but he made absolutely no effort to unclench them, hoping the pressure in his hands would dull that in his head. He was braced to stand firm until he glanced over at Mikey, who was looking at him with an air of defeat. And what looked like disappointment.
“Gerard…”
Gerard’s eyes burned. “You’re not serious.”
Mikey looked sympathetic in response to the small voice that had voiced his brother’s words, but he pressed on, imploring.
“Please don’t be stubborn. We have the truck to get her out of here, but we’ll be waiting forever for the crane. Please just let Frank lift her down.” Gerard opened his mouth to combat the request but Mikey threw his arm up and gestured. “Do you really want to leave her there any longer than necessary?”

Gerard’s gut was cased in ice when he looked up at her, her smashed eye spurting sparks as if to garner his pity. He exhaled heavily as all his resolve fled him at once. His mau5bot wasn’t just his livelihood, but his purpose too, and the strongest reminder of his grandmother that he owned. His hands were tied.
“Do it.”
He said it with his eyes closed, choosing to be blind rather than look at Frank. His face felt like an insult, and Gerard turned, stalking away before El had even been shifted an inch so as to avoid the obligation to express gratitude toward the one who had caused her injuries.

The uncomfortable niggle between his shoulder blades told him that Frank’s eyes were on him, at least until he heard the loud creak of shifting metal that meant he was doing as he’d offered.

As Gerard headed backstage he found Big Worm at his side wordlessly, and wished he felt strong enough to convey his gratitude. It was almost painful, remembering how happy he’d felt as he’d drifted off to sleep the previous night in comparison to the rage and humiliation that now knotted his muscles.

There wasn’t a single reporter lurking backstage, which Gerard was both grateful for and perplexed by. He assumed they were all still in the arena, documenting the destruction ready for the midday news report.
Worm paused when Gerard reached his dressing room door.
“Want me to keep watch?”
“That’d be great,” Gerard smiled weakly, touching his hand to Worm’s shoulder once before he closed the door behind him and leant back against it for a minute. The deep breaths were cleansing and he couldn’t wait to get out of the arena and away from the noise. He’d barely unzipped his bag to start throwing everything back into it when the door opened and his manager strode towards him. Oh. His stomach dropped. Looked like they were doing this now then.

Blake’s hands were on his hips like a cliché re-enactment of parental disappointment.
“Well?”
If Gerard hadn’t felt equal parts nervous and embarrassed he’d have definitely laughed. As it stood, he simply winced.
“I’m sorry.”
“Jesus Christ.” Perry moved then, relaxing slightly as he dropped himself onto the couch, cradling his chin in his hands. “What the fuck were you thinking, Gerard? I didn’t think you were this stupid.”
Gerard felt his cheeks tint and he was grateful that Mikey had already done the hard part of explaining for him.
“It’s nothing I can’t handle,” Perry continued. “I’ve managed guys who get caught in club bathrooms with someone different every other night. I can deal with that, if this is gonna become some regular mid-life crisis thing, but you need to give me a heads-up. I didn’t think I had to worry about this with you.”
“You didn’t. Don’t.” He sighed. “I’m really sorry, Perry, I had no idea who he was.”
Perry snorted. “That much is clear. That’s not really the point though, is it?”
“I know.”
Perry sighed, and seemed to be trying to reign himself in.
“You fucking learn from this experience, alright? I’ll do my best to keep this out of the media, but if he talks there will be no stopping it. I hope you know that.”

Gerard’s stomach sank like it was full of lead. He’d given Frank all the ammunition he needed to bury him, and short of begging – which he would absolutely not do – there was nothing he could do stop it.
“Just do what you can,” he told Perry dejectedly.
His manager nodded stiffly, fielding calls on his comm even as he stood to leave.
“Don’t talk to the press,” he added. “Not yet. We’ll deal with them later. I need to arrange to get the fucking thing fixed.”
Gerard’s chest contorted in pain and he looked to the floor. He hadn’t even begun to consider what he would do if El was irreparable. He wasn’t sure if he could stand to start over with another mau5bot.
Gerard looked up with an expression of surprise as Perry turned back, his eyes a little softer around the edges as he placed a comforting hand on Gerard’s shoulder.
“Look. However much it costs to fix her, we’ll pay it. It might not always seem like I’m on your side but I’d never make you give her up.” He tightened his grip and tried on a smile. “I was close to my grandmother too.”
The sincerity in Blake’s words washed over Gerard with a heady gush of relief. He returned Perry’s smile and watched him leave.

No sooner had the door closed behind him, Gerard could hear some commotion coming from the other side. Reporters, he thought wearily. Oh well. It was probably better to postpone them now, rather than waiting and letting them put their own words into his mouth. He took a deep breath as he clutched the handle, yanking hard.
“Look, I just need to fucking – Gerard!”

The first person he saw was a wide-eyed Frank, trapped behind the barrier of Worm’s arm. There were indeed reporters, calling out for statements and snapping photographs, but they too were restrained by venue security. Mikey and Perry looked exasperated.
Frank started to say his name again before Mikey interrupted.
“Just shut up a minute, would you? G, for the love of God, will you just talk to him? He’s not gonna leave until you do.”
“And you think I should give him the time of day after what he just did?” he asked tightly.
Mikey narrowed his eyes. “I think you should be questioning why he’s begging to see you instead of bathing in his glory.”

He had a point. Frank’s face was carefully blank when Gerard took another quick glance, and when he shot a questioning look at Perry he was met with an easy shrug.
Gerard gripped the door and held it open, gesturing in a somewhat resigned manner.
“Watch the door,” he muttered to Mikey as he pulled it closed behind them.

Frank walked to the centre of the room first of all. Probably imagining how it would feel when it was his name in the star above the door, Gerard thought spitefully. He only realised he was clenching his teeth when his jaw started to ache. He rubbed at it absently as he grew more impatient.
“Can we make this quick? I have a busy day ahead of me, no thanks to you.”
“I did say I’m sorry.”
“My heart bleeds. What do you want, Frank?”
Frank’s tailored eyebrows drew together.
“Look, you need to chill out. I know you had a nice streak going there, but it would probably do your ego some good to lose every once in a while.”

Gerard took a step closer. “Maybe I wouldn’t be so pissed if it had been a fair fight. If I’d known exactly what I was walking into; exactly who my opponent was.” Frank had nothing to say to that, which only spurred Gerard on. “And anyway, surely my ego should be like a huge turn on for you if you’re such a massive fan. Or was that a lie as well?”
“I haven’t lied to you!” Frank exclaimed. “Nothing I’ve said to you since we met has been a lie. We wouldn’t even be in this position if your comm hadn’t run out of juice. Remember I said we needed to talk in the morning before you left?”
“Oh right,” Gerard scoffed, vision flaring a little red at the edges. “So that would have been okay, would it? Get your fantasy night with me first and then just casually mention in the morning that you’d be seeing me in the ring?”

Frank had the good grace to look contrite as he ran a hand through his dishevelled hair. He took a step closer.
“No, that wouldn’t have been okay either. But I really was going to tell you.”
“You should have told me in the bar.” Gerard couldn’t suppress the tremble in his voice any more than he could move when Frank took yet another step towards him. “You should have told me.”
“Gerard, I’m so sorry,” he stressed. “I just- I was going to, but then I felt it, that spark between us. The chances of you sleeping with a fan were slim, but the chances of you sleeping with your opponent were even worse. And it wasn’t even-“ He made an agonised sound. “It wasn’t even about sex. You know it wasn’t just sex. There was something between us and I knew that if I told you it would have been over before it even began.”
“Stop,” Gerard whispered, something unknown curling in his gut. Words were still falling from Frank’s lips faster than he could catch them, and suddenly Frank’s hands were on his face and he was too shocked to push them away.
“It wasn’t just sex, it wasn’t. ‘Doesn’t feel like a one-night stand’, that’s what you said. And it wasn’t, it wasn’t.”

And then Frank’s lips were on his, and Frank was pushing him against the wall, and his hands were skittering through Gerard’s hair as his mouth pushed forcefully against his own. And Gerard’s hands were curling in the lapels of Frank’s cardigan and he was kissing back, and his heart was beating wildly in his chest as Frank was making soft sounds in his throat. And then Gerard was pushing him away harshly, eyes darting away from the naked rejected look on Frank’s face as he grabbed his bag and strode out the door.

Worm was by his side again in a second and Mikey’s hand was on his elbow as they pushed their way through the gathering of media drones. He wasn’t even met with that much resistance as the reporters flocked to his dressing room to try and get a moment with the victor. Gerard hated that he was jealous that the paparazzi were not falling at his feet as they usually did.

The arena’s interior passed him in a blur as they exited the venue as quickly as possible, Worm herding Mikey, Gerard and Perry into a waiting car. Everyone was quiet, except from the moment Mikey gestured at his face.
“You’ve got a little-“.
Gerard’s stomach ached as he wiped the smudge of Frank’s blood from his cheek, staring steadfastly out of the window as they pulled away from The Pyramid.